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Dear friend,
I know you have heard much of what is happening in Haiti right now, and I don't need to tell you how bad things have become. All the major news outlets in the world paint a fairly accurate picture of our dire situation these days.
I am reaching out to you today first to let you know that we are all physically fine at Emmaus. Cap-Haitian remains calm. We are able to continue our mission at Emmaus University, and we are so grateful to God for this.
However, we are traumatized and emotionally drained. Our resources are being stretched thin. There is such great uncertainty, and living in that uncertainty for an unpredictable amount of time is incredibly stressful. Presently, we are completely isolated from the rest of this world. Our borders with the Dominican Republic remain closed, as do our airports. We are using the last drops of fuel in our tanks.
One of my bigger concerns, however, are the proposed solutions I have heard from the world. I often wonder to what extent people who are offering to help us truly understand what is really going on in the country? Their best efforts appear to me like an attempt to patch a hole in a tire. But are they thinking about the nail that punctured the tire, or the road the tire had travelled?
I have seen too many resources wasted in the past trying to patch that hole. I have seen too much investment wasted trying to appease greedy and insatiable appetites. I have seen too much money being thrown into a bottomless hole here in Haiti. People do not seem to learn from their mistakes. I have heard leaders apologize for their mistaken approaches to help Haiti, yet today they are taking these same approaches and are using the same old techniques. If it never worked in the past, why will it work this time?
I acknowledge we need urgent help today. I cannot imagine spending two weeks in this condition without plunging into an unprecedented humanitarian crisis. But there is no quick fix to our situation. Haiti’s situation has deep roots. Cutting some branches or hosing down some water will only bring short-lived relief. The tree needs to be treated from beneath its profound roots. We are dealing with national spirits and strongholds of rebellion, self-destruction, self-deception, self-hatred, manipulation, and blood-thirsty ancestral spirits that reign over the country since its inception. To ignore these important realities of our context is to support the status quo of the country, thereby giving the "Prince of Haiti" more freedom and power to advance his destructive agenda in Haiti.
This is where Emmaus University’s work comes into play. We understand the root cause of our problem in Haiti, and we are called to address it. In preparing Christlike leaders for the redemption of Haiti, our task is to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, and to build and to plant (cf. Jeremiah 1:10). All of this we do within the context of our classrooms with one batch of students at a time.
We acknowledge this approach to help the country takes time. It calls for faith, perseverance, and patience. I am glad as a community of faith we understand this process and are committed to persevere until Haiti breaths new and fresh air.
As such, amid all the chaos surrounding me, I dream of a different Haiti in the foreseeable future. This dream begins with starting to see Emmaus graduates in key leadership position all over the country within the next 10 years. The redemption of Haiti begins with the redemption of its leadership. This is what Emmaus is all about. We are preparing redeemed leaders to take the reign of the country. We have already begun to see encouraging signs of the difference we are making in our community, Cap-Haitian mostly, through our graduates.
In 10 years, I dream to see Emmaus’s imprint all over Haiti. This is an exciting project for which I am extending a divine invitation to you to be involved at a deeper level. We cannot do this without you. We need your prayers. We need your thoughts. We need your expertise. We need your financial support as we build up Emmaus University to become the leading university in Haiti, preparing leaders for the church and the corporate world in Haiti. Let’s keep working. Let’s take the right and godly approach to helping Haiti. Let’s build up something that makes a real difference in Haiti. Let us together build up Emmaus, God’s greatest gift to Haiti in our time.
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